Obama to release children's picture book in November

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - President Barack Obama will release a children's picture book, inspired by his two daughters, that pays tribute to 13 influential Americans, publisher Random House said on Tuesday.

Called "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters," the book was written by Obama before he took office in January, 2009 and will be released on November 16, two week after the mid-term elections. It is illustrated by award-winning author Loren Long.

The book will address "groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped" the United States including former U.S. President George Washington, the first black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and artist Georgia O'Keeffe, the publisher said. The ten other subjects were not revealed.

Obama, who has written two bestselling books, "Dreams from My Father," and "The Audacity of Hope," was inspired to do the book through his experience as the father of two daughters, Malia, 12 and Sasha, 9, the publisher said.

It is part of a three-book $1.9 million deal Obama agreed with Random House in 2004.

The book will have a 500,000 first print run and proceeds will be donated to a scholarship fund for fallen and disabled U.S. soldiers. It will be published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, a division of Random House, which is owned by Germany's Bertelsmann AG.